Wednesday, Jan. 28 2009 @ 10:04AM
On March 31, metal band Queensrÿche will release a concept record titled
American Soldier. The band's 1988 album,
Operation: Mindcrime, was also a concept record, but that concept was about a junkie who's brainwashed into becoming an assassin for an underground criminal organization, whereas
American Soldier's concept follows the life of a soldier in the Iraq war.
Both of those storylines are good, but the world's seen no shortage of concept albums over the past four decades. In anticipation of Queensrÿche's upcoming new album, we take a look at our picks for the "Top 10 Concept Albums of All-Time," ordered from least to most outstanding, with apologies to Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and Styx's Kilroy Was Here for just barely missing the list.
10. The Mars Volta, De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003). This conceptual odyssey from prog rock purveyors The Mars Volta follows the story of a man named Cerpin Taxt, who fails to kill himself with a morphine and rat poison cocktail, and instead lapses into a week-long, vision-laden coma.
9. My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade (2006). This concept record about a man dying of cancer (known only as "The Patient") and his reflections on life is a surprisingly upbeat, rock-out journey.
8. Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974). Genesis' double-concept record (and the last to feature Peter Gabriel on vocals) tells the story of a young Puerto Rican hood named Rael, who travels to the nightmarish bowels of New York City to rescue his brother.